Building Moratorium Approved

Friday, December 09, 2005
By GUY BUSBY
Staff Reporter


Council votes 3-2 on a 120-day freeze on residential construction plans along most of Alabama 59


GULF SHORES -- Apartment and condominium construction requests along Alabama 59 will be put on hold for the next four months while Gulf Shores officials study the effects of multi-story construction in the city's business districts.

The Gulf Shores City Council voted 3-2 Thursday morning to approve a 120-day moratorium on extended-stay and multi-family construction in areas with zoning designations BG, or general business, and CD, commercial.

Council members Carolyn Doughty, Phillip Harris and Robert Craft voted for the moratorium resolution. Mayor G.W. "Billy" Duke III and Councilman Steve Jones voted against the proposal. Councilman Joe Garris was absent.

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Council members who voted for and against the moratorium said they opposed multi-story buildings towering over the Dr. W.C. Holmes Bridge on Alabama 59, but disagreed whether using a moratorium was appropriate.

"Am I in favor of a building that towers over the bridge? Personally, I'm not, but I disagree with the process," said Duke.

Duke said he could recall only two times when Gulf Shores had only ordered building moratoriums -- once after Hurricane Ivan hit in 2004 and once in Fort Morgan when residents sued over annexation along Alabama 180. He said both of those situations came about while city officials were trying to determine what to do after unexpected events took place, which was not the case with the current moratorium.

The mayor said the moratorium hurts property owners who have not yet applied for construction permits or site plan approval, while rewarding developers who have already filed for permission to build. He said city officials should have given residents more notice before ordering a four-month freeze on requests.

Craft said council members and other city officials met with developers and property owners in the last week to discuss zoning in the commercial areas. He said the moratorium would give officials time to work out the issue.

Moratorium supporters said more notice would only have caused developers to rush plans that might be inappropriate in order to beat the deadline.

"That would just force people to try to scramble to get something in to get it grandfathered in and that wouldn't be in anyone's best interests," said Doughty.

Doughty said the city's zoning ordinance does not prohibit tall buildings in areas zoned for business. In the past, the regulations have not been an issue since no developers had expressed an interest in construction towers in the commercial areas. With more condominium towers going up along the beach, however, officials and developers have been looking at other areas.

She said that throughout the city, property owners have been seeking ways to get the most density on their parcels. Taller buildings are one way to allow more use of the property, but neither officials or residents want a corridor of towers lining Alabama 59 down to the beach, she said.

"You can achieve density by allowing more lot coverage and not height," she said. "At the beach, we wanted a smaller footprint because that's what the citizens wanted, more views of the Gulf, so we allowed height, but in others areas that's not been what they wanted."


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Doughty said officials are looking at changes to the zoning laws that would prevent towers in areas such as near the bridge. She said the new ordinance should be ready for a vote by February or March.

Garris said that until the ordinance is ready, the moratorium would prevent any attempts to get around changes at the last minute.

"It would be in the best interest to go ahead and put this moratorium in place to give us time to finish this," he said.

Jones said that since officials and developers are near agreement, he did not see the need for a moratorium.

During the 120 days, city officials will seek public comments on the issue and a report from Jordan, Jones & Goulding Inc., the Atlanta-based land-use consultants the city hired to review commercial zoning. Officials will study building uses, population density, building sizes, traffic and other issues in order to create a new ordinance, according to the resolution passed Thursday.

The areas zoned for general business and commercial include most of the property in Gulf Shores along Alabama 59 from Fourth Street, just north of the beach, to Baldwin County 8, near the northern city limits, according to Steve Foote, city planner.